This story is not mine, its a repost this story belongs to LesbianTrash (iwillrunawaywithyou)

Disclaimer, i do not own any of the following

Chapter 1: The Last Day

Summary:

Tamaki's finally saved from the yakuza's grasp, but already Mirio seems to be avoiding him.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Tamaki doesn't know when everything stopped being so cold.

It's ironic, isn't it? He was taken—kidnapped—in August, so everything should have gotten colder as the seasons changed. But now, in his hero costume that's drenched in sweat and dried blood and grime and everything else that Tamaki's never been able to get out because he hasn't been given a single change of clothes since he's gotten here—he's sweating. It may also have to do with the fact that he's sort of accepted his fate: He's going to die down here, and there's nothing he can do about it.

Tamaki gets cold when he's nervous, which is most of the time—there's a reason his costume covers as much skin as possible without interfering with his quirk. When dread fills him, it's like a bucket of ice water has just been poured over him, freezing him in place and stopping him from doing anything useful.

And that's how he ended up here. And that's why you'll never be an adequate hero. There's no Mirio here to stop his thoughts, so he spirals.

Spade was the first one he met.

It was a cool August night, a nice relief from the sweltering heat of the day. Tamaki (well, Suneater at that point) was on patrol—his last patrol, though he didn't know it then—with Fat Gum, Red Riot, and Real Steel. The two work study students, Red Riot and Real Steel, were goofing off about something. Suneater couldn't for the life of him remember what, in retrospect. Fat Gum was laughing along with them, but was more alert. Suneater walked a few steps behind, not particularly wanting to endure the rest of the agency's bantering. This was normal, for them. This was good.

It was good, until it wasn't—a villain Suneater didn't recognize cut through the space between Suneater and the rest of his agency. Quick to react, Suneater shot octopus tentacles out to apprehend the villain—but the villain was fast, too, and his limps turned to sharp, jointed swords that sliced easily through Suneater's tentacles. It was then that the rest of the agency joined in, Real Steel cutting in to meet his match. Red Riot fought alongside Suneater, both sword and shield. Suneater traded his tentacles for clam shells and chicken feet, when suddenly he was hit from behind. It felt like a medicine ball had been shot into his back. His clam shells disappeared as he stopped concentrating, the familiar ice-cold sensation of dread filling his body as he felt two hands on his arms. He butted his head back, which loosened the person's grasp for only a second as he made contact with the face of whoever was behind him.

But now he was disoriented, and he couldn't see anyone or anything around him because the moment he opened his eyes he was hit with another invisible medicine ball, straight to the face. He cursed, trying to orient himself and somehow get back to Fat Gum and the third years.

The same set of hands grabbed him again, and the last thing he heard was a helpless scream of "Suneater!" before he blacked out.

Tamaki guesses that's why they say that hindsight is 20/20. Now that he's had the time, he can think of a million things he could have done differently to avoid being captured. He could've used something that wasn't the stupid octopus tentacles, his go-to for everything until that point. He could have walked closer to Fat Gum and Eijirou and Tetsutetsu. He could have called for help rather than wait out the few-second delay that it took for Fat Gum or either of the work study students to realize what had been going on. He could have been stronger or smarter or admitted he needed help.

But it's already done. It's been done for—Tamaki doesn't know how long. Days, weeks, months, maybe. There's no way of telling how much time has passed. He could go by how often he's fed, but even that's no help—they could be feeding him three times a day or once a week and Tamaki wouldn't know the difference. Tamaki could try to count by his sleep schedule, but that's never been regular enough to give him an idea of how long he's been here, especially when he's too preoccupied with thinking about everyone and everything else to even fall asleep.

It doesn't help that the room he's in is made completely of mirrors. There are no doors or windows, but Tamaki's learned long ago that it doesn't stop the villains from entering and exiting—it's one of their quirks. Diamond is her villain name, and he'd learned maybe a few days after he was kidnapped that she had been the one to kidnap him in the first place. Tamaki's seen more of her than any of the others, which makes sense considering none of the others can travel through the mirrors without her help.

She's the second tallest of the group's four main members, after Spade. She's shorter than Tamaki, though, if only by a little. Her hair falls in perfect black curls down to her chin, with half of it pinned back in a silver-studded clip. Crystal earrings hang from her pierced lobes, with two other diamond piercings next to the base. Dark eyeliner complements her piercing blue eyes, giving her look one of an inescapable intensity. She's wearing a 1920s-style American dress that begins tightly then flares and ends at her knees. She's beautiful—the glamorous kind, the kind that draws your eyes in like magnets and hypnotizes you. Tamaki is absolutely terrified of her, so he learns early on to stay in the middle of the room, rather than lean against any of the mirror-shrouded walls.

That doesn't help much, either, though, because he's forced to look at himself from all sides. He almost doesn't recognize himself—he has an almost skeletal appearance, with sunken eyes and cheeks. His eyes are glossed over, almost phantom-like; he barely looks alive. His skin is pale to the point of making him look green and seasick against the flickering LED lights. His hair is longer and greasier, sticking to itself and his face in slimy tendrils.

There are three other main villains aside from Diamond: Spade, obviously, and then Heart and Club. After Diamond, Heart is the one Tamaki sees most often. Despite her kind façade, she makes Tamaki sick to his stomach.

He can't believe—

No. He can't think about that. He can't, he can't, he can't, he can't, he can't, he can't, he can't, he can't—

Someone passes straight through the mirror behind him. Tamaki tenses completely, his disgusting hero costume crunching with the movement. But it's not Diamond, and something warm and comforting falls over Tamaki's shoulder.

Hope comes to him in the form of a red cape. Lemillion's cape. Mirio's cape. Tamaki looks up to see Mirio flashing him a smile, then everything happens at once:

The mirror room explodes, almost literally. The glass on every mirror shatters, and the wall that Mirio had phased through is broken down by a pair with twin grins: Red Riot and Real Steel.

"No time now," Red Riot says directly to Tamaki. "But we've got a lot of catching up to do!"

The two barrel out of the room, down to some unexplored area of the Yakuza hideout. A familiar set of branches fills the room. Kamui Woods, Tamaki's brain supplies. The ceiling comes crashing down, and Tamaki's pulled helplessly out of the way by strong, white tape. He lands heavily beside another familiar student, one of Red Riot's friends.

"Cellophane," Tamaki breathes. "You've gotten strong."

The boy—the hero—smiles. "Happy to help!"

Tamaki's passed from hero to hero, and yet he still hasn't seen Lemillion for more than those few seconds when the heroes first arrived. The last one he's left with is Fat Gum, who takes him outside for the first time—and oh. It's been months. The few trees that are actually in the city have grown a kaleidoscope of red and orange and yellow, their leaves slowly beginning to fall from their branches.

"Wh... How long has it been?" Tamaki breathes, looking over at Fat Gum from the corner of his eye.

Fat Gum isn't in good shape, Tamaki can tell. For one, he's lost his roundness, but that can be chalked up to the fact that he's been fighting to save Tamaki for far longer than he should have. That doesn't explain the dark circles that run under his eyes, though, or the way that his crow's feet don't appear the way they used to when he smiles at Tamaki.

"You should wish the boys a happy birthday," is what Fat Gum says, far too cheerfully for the situation they're in now or his horrible physical state.

"...October?" Tamaki blinks. Two months. Two months he's been gone. Two months without properly eating or sleeping or talking to anyone that he actually cares about.

When you're a hero, you learn that anything can happen in the blink of in eye, within the span of a single second. And if Tamaki's been out of the scene for two months... How much has he missed?

"The 16th, exactly. I told the kiddos they could take the day off, but they both insisted they'd rather come help save you. They really care about you, Suneater."

Tamaki feels like curling in on himself. He wants to get back in there, to help all of the people that are working so hard to save him despite all of the better things they could be doing. But he can't, because if he uses his quirk... No.

"They're too..." Selfless? Optimistic? Caring? Altruistic? Chivalrous? Spirited? "Manly?" "They're so much like Mirio," Tamaki settles with.

"Lemillion led this mission," Fat Gum tells him. "He hasn't been the same since you were..." Kidnapped, Tamaki finishes mentally. It's telling that not even Fat Gum, one of the most "grin-and-bear-it" type-heroes Tamaki's ever met is faltering at even the thought of his sidekick being abducted.

"His first one?" Tamaki guesses. It's true, unless Mirio has been up to other things in the two months that Tamaki hasn't been around. Fat Gum nods, confirming Tamaki's theory.

"I saw him for a second," Tamaki says. "But not since then. I... I don't know if I can face him, after everything that's happened. Hado, either."

"Lemillion and Nejire-Chan will be okay," Fat Gum responds. Tamaki's not so sure. So much has happened, for all three of them.

Tamaki sighs, taking in the view of the city. There aren't many people out at this time of night, for which Tamaki is grateful. Even with his hero costume looking like it's been buried for years and just finally brought back to the surface, even with Tamaki's greasy hair that has grown longer, reaching his shoulders, Tamaki is still recognizable as Suneater.

Fat Gum takes the hint, and instead reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. "I brought some food. I wasn't sure how much you'd be eating there, if..." Right. To the rest of the world, Tamaki's probably dead. He remembers, some time ago, Heart coming in with an obituary and a smug smile. Tamaki's obituary. His mother had written it... Oh my god. His mom. He's alive, and his parents are probably still grieving.

Tamaki takes the food and tries his best to eat it without wincing. There are two pieces of takoyaki—not nearly enough to satiate Tamaki, but enough for him to at least use his quirk without... He shakes his head. He's not going to think about it—he's not. "I have to call my parents," Tamaki says, standing up once he's finished eating. "Do you have your phone on you?"

Fat Gum grimaces. "You... you can't talk to them yet. Not until the police get here and we get you to the hospital."

Red-hot fire shoots through Tamaki—metaphorically, thank god. But he's angry. He's furious, because he's finally made it out of that place alive and he has to deal with the fact that his parents still think he's dead and he can't even offer the slightest bit of help or comfort to anyone, not even the people he loves most.

"Taishiro," Tamaki says, using Fat Gum's given name. "Give me your phone. I did not get kidnapped for two entire goddamn months to not be able to talk to my parents."

Fat Gum doesn't argue, instead taking out his simple flip-phone used exclusively for hero missions. Tamaki takes it, desperately typing in his mom's number. He can feel his heart pounding in his ears, a drum beat to the ringing of the phone.

The phone rings once, twice, three times—and his mom picks up.

"Mr. Toyomitsu." Her voice is exhausted, but not the kind of sleepiness from just waking up—she sounds like she hasn't slept in days. "Is there anything I can help you with? Fumihiko and I were just getting ready to head to bed."

"Mom," Tamaki whispers, then repeats himself, louder this time. "Mom. It's me. Tamaki. I'm okay. I... You're not supposed to know I'm alive yet, so act surprised when the police or the hospital or whoever calls you, I don't know, I... I just needed to hear your voice."

"...Tamaki?" Softspoken, as always, his mom calls to his dad and suddenly they're both at the phone. "You're okay, oh my god? Where are you? We'll be there as soon as possible, okay?"

"...I don't know. A city, somewhere. Someone will call you, okay? I'm still going to be here in an hour. I just need you to be okay and I need you to know that I'm okay. I love you, Mom, Dad. I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you. Okay."

The two of them talk over each other for several entire minutes, fussing over Tamaki's health and wellbeing and how he sounds so sick and tired and how he must not be okay at all and how does he sound so calm? Tamaki hangs up through one of his mom's tangents about good food for mental health and hands the phone back to Fat Gum.

"I'm never talking to anyone ever again," Tamaki decides stubbornly. Fat Gum just laughs, wrapping Tamaki into a suffocating hug.

"I missed you, Suneater," he says, and Tamaki would cry if his eyes weren't so painfully dry from dehydration.

Tamaki laughs sardonically. "I missed you until about thirty seconds ago. Now I wish I'd never seen you. I'm leaving your agency, never being your sidekick again."

"You wound me."

"You missed it."